The new principal of the University of the Highlands and Islands has revealed his ambition to “take higher education to the people” as the institution prepares to lure more students through its doors.
Professor Clive Mulholland, who took over in June, is aiming to increase the volume of material available online to allow more flexibility.
He said: “I want to take university out to the people.”
He wants UHI to be different from traditional universities and become the 21st century equivalent of the Open University.
Working with businesses and public sector agencies in the area to create courses providing the skills they are looking for is also a priority, as UHI tries to prevent the so-called “brain drain” of young people from the Highlands to the central belt.
But overseas students will also be targeted, with the provision of new accommodation at the Inverness campus and other Highlands and islands locations playing a major part.
Excellent results from a review of the university’s research is also expected to boost its profile nationally and internationally.
Improving research is one of the main pillars of UHI’s next strategic plan.
Mr Mulholland said that his own background meant he “understands the struggles of part-time students”.
After leaving school at 16 and working in retail and as a labourer, he went back to study when he won a job as a technician in his early 20s.
He said that he did not have the motivation when he was younger and only “discovered the secret of studying” later on.
He went on to complete a degree and Phd in biochemistry – all while working part-time and raising a family.
Mr Mulholland said: “It took me 12 years.
“I have a real affinity with part-time students and the struggles they face but also for what we do at UHI in terms of the pathways from vocational study to academic and higher education.”
His career since has included the scientific civil service and the health service before becoming a lecturer in science at Swansea University.
He worked in his native Northern Ireland, at Queens University then the University of Ulster, and was then deputy vice-chancellor at the University of South Wales.
He said he joined UHI because he feels “there is a real opportunity to do something different”.